America's Got a Huge P.P. (Prison Population)

2007-01-28 11:28:01

#26

Kmar: Truth is my Bitch; +5,695|6610|132 and Bush

Vilham wrote:
I think its that we have a higher crime rate, but a lower violent crime rate. Not sure though, long time since i looked at these things.

k guess thats because of all the drunken chavs at night beating other people up. Happens quite alot. I think the fact i was thinking off was higher violent crime rate but lower homicide rate.

lol.. one thing is for sure, you guys have better gun control laws.

Xbone Stormsurgezz

2007-01-28 11:28:27

#27

Vilham: Say wat!?; +580|6775|UK

Ofc but as its know, arguing on the internet is retarded. I could win most arguments straight away with people in person by just saying read this book then come back to me, or read these 15 books then come back to me.

2007-01-28 12:03:22

#28

crimson_grunt: Shitty Disposition (apparently); +214|6663|Teesside, UK

Kmarion wrote:
lol.. one thing is for sure, you guys have better gun control laws.

I was shocked to find out about how bad things had got with the recent row about sex offenders and them not able to place them in prison cause of the over crowding.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6301125.stm

Does that mean if some nutters goes on a rampage with a samurai sword ^{this happened in my town a few years ago} and kills someone they might not have room?

2007-01-28 12:08:25

#29

Vilham: Say wat!?; +580|6775|UK

ofc not. Atm they are trying to sort these problems out, our main problem is sending every and any criminal to jail until a few years ago, when we realized that our jails were filling up way to fast. Now we try to give minor crimes lesser sentences.

It is quite shocking reading that story though.

2007-01-28 12:17:08

#30

ts-pulsar: Member; +54|6512

We do have a problem in the states of throwing people in jail for even the most minor reasons.

Case in point, a friend of mine had a checkbook stolen, and all the money in his checking account was removed, he didn't realize this until he'd bounced three checks. He was arrested and taken to court on felony charges, even after explaining the situation and getting it talked down to misdemeanor he still had to serve 3 months in jail.

Another friend of mine who has a "not so smart but hot" girlfriend got into a shouting match together in their shared apartment, and she called the cops, not realizing that they are required to arrest someone on any domestic violence call. Of course it was a Friday night so he had to stay in jail all weekend even though no charges were pressed.

I think one of the big problems we've got is that District Attorneys are an elected office, and they have to show that they are tough on crime, and to do this it means putting people in jail. The other problem we've got is that we've got so many laws on the books that it's almost impossible to go an entire day without committing a crime of some sort.

2007-01-28 16:04:44

#31

Kukulcan: Member; +6|6310|The Battlefield

Also in Italy we have the same problem .... our prisons are really full by now. Besides we don't have the ''death law'' ( i don't know how you call when you electrocute a prisoner ) . We are resolving this simpy building new prisons , but the problem still remains.

2007-01-28 18:04:19

#32

Turquoise: O Canada; +1,596|6414|North Carolina

JimmyBotswana wrote:
As of June 30, 2005, about 1 out of every 136 U.S. residents was incarcerated either in prison or jail. The total amount being 2,186,230, with 1,438,701 in State and Federal prisons and 747,529 in local jails.

Compared with other countries, the United States has among the highest incarceration rates in the world. More people are behind bars in the United States than any other country. As of 2006, a record 7 million people were behind bars, on probation or on parole. Of the total 2.2 million were incarcerated. China ranks second with 1.5 million followed by Russia with 870,000. The United States has 5 percent of the world's population and 25 percent of the world's incarcerated population.

As of 2006, the incarceration rate in prison and jail, in the United States was 737 inmates per 100,000 or 1 of every 32 adults. For the most part, the U.S. rate is three to eight times that of the Western European nations and Canada.

source: wikipedia.org

What does this statistic say about American society and its elected government? Is this a positive facet of American life, or a negative one? Can one use this statistic to compare the United States and other totalitarian regimes which typically have high prison counts, or is America's case different? What are some of the possible causes for the seemingly massive prison population in the United States? What consequences, negative or positive, could this have for the future of America?

Thanks for bringing this up... this is an important issue.

Legalizing pot would actually solve a lot of this problem, as would ending mandatory sentences for most drug offenses.

2007-01-28 18:06:21

#33

usmarine2007: Banned; +374|6376|Columbus, Ohio

Turquoise wrote:
Legalizing pot would actually solve a lot of this problem, as would ending mandatory sentences for most drug offenses.

What do we legalize after pot?

2007-01-28 18:08:27

#34

Turquoise: O Canada; +1,596|6414|North Carolina

usmarine2007 wrote:
Turquoise wrote:
Legalizing pot would actually solve a lot of this problem, as would ending mandatory sentences for most drug offenses.
What do we legalize after pot?

That depends... maybe shrooms?

I don't support legalizing highly addictive substances like heroin or crack, but there are plenty of hallucinogens that really shouldn't be illegal.

2007-01-29 17:39:13

#35

JimmyBotswana: Member; +82|6595|Montreal

Could we possibly get this conversation back on track? What does this say about American society and should anything be done about it?

2007-01-29 17:40:55

#36

DesertFox-: The very model of a modern major general; +794|6694|United States of America

Turquoise wrote:
usmarine2007 wrote:
Turquoise wrote:
Legalizing pot would actually solve a lot of this problem, as would ending mandatory sentences for most drug offenses.
What do we legalize after pot?
That depends... maybe shrooms?

I don't support legalizing highly addictive substances like heroin or crack, but there are plenty of hallucinogens that really shouldn't be illegal.

If we legalized pot and 'shrooms then nobody would understand the first 7 minutes of Super Troopers anymore.

I also heard that America has a bunch of opium and morphine in Fort Knox.

Still off-topic Jimmy.

Last edited by DesertFox423 (2007-01-29 17:41:18)

2007-01-29 18:29:46

#37

Kmar: Truth is my Bitch; +5,695|6610|132 and Bush

JimmyBotswana wrote:
Could we possibly get this conversation back on track? What does this say about American society and should anything be done about it?

Given America's current position what does it say about the rest of the world? After all a nation is built on the success of it's society.

Xbone Stormsurgezz

2007-01-29 19:19:19

#38

Vilham: Say wat!?; +580|6775|UK

It shows that it used its advantage after WWII having not suffered nearly as much loss as most Europe countries and other countries involved in WWII (flame all you want, ill wipe the floor with your face!), which was their choice, that advantage has now been lost due to Americans being not willing to be taxed as much as they want spent by the state on them or considering importing and exporting of goods and the deficit it creates. As you can see from that chart, China is catching you up VERY fast.

2007-01-29 19:20:36

#39

usmarine2007: Banned; +374|6376|Columbus, Ohio

Vilham wrote:
China is catching you up VERY fast.

Oh noes!

2007-01-29 19:34:42

#40

Vilham: Say wat!?; +580|6775|UK

I would be worrying if i was you, your economy is going to be pretty fucked soon... Not many luxury's for you when your government is massively in debt and half you country is fucked up. Us euros have had experience of that, lucky for England we weren't competing massively with the largest economy in the world when Thatcher brought our economy back from the edge.

2007-01-29 19:37:11

#41

usmarine2007: Banned; +374|6376|Columbus, Ohio

Vilham wrote:
I would be worrying if i was you, your economy is going to be pretty fucked soon... Not many luxury's for you when your government is massively in debt and half you country is fucked up.

Wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which gets filled first.

2007-01-29 19:38:25

#42

Vilham: Say wat!?; +580|6775|UK

Thats exactly what it will be like. You will be eating shit. Coz thats all you will afford.

2007-01-29 19:39:03

#43

usmarine2007: Banned; +374|6376|Columbus, Ohio

Vilham wrote:
Thats exactly what it will be like. You will be eating shit. Coz thats all you will afford.

Maybe..then I will come live with you in England.

2007-01-29 19:47:10

#44

Vilham: Say wat!?; +580|6775|UK

Good idea, we arent in Economic problems, so you wont need to eat shit.

PS GG on not thinking that insult through.

2007-01-29 19:55:10

#45

chinesemaster006: Member; +3|6689

d4rkst4r wrote:
JimmyBotswana wrote:
source: wikipedia.org
Have you no brains? wikipedia isnt a source, wow. Take grade 9 English and you might figure it out.

Have you no brains? try reading the References and External Links next time. Take grade 5 English and you might figure it out.

2007-01-30 05:23:47

#46

usmarine2007: Banned; +374|6376|Columbus, Ohio

Vilham wrote:
Good idea, we arent in Economic problems, so you wont need to eat shit.

PS GG on not thinking that insult through.

Not an insult...it is a saying you tool.

2007-01-30 05:51:21

#47

Kmar: Truth is my Bitch; +5,695|6610|132 and Bush

chinesemaster006 wrote:
d4rkst4r wrote:
JimmyBotswana wrote:
source: wikipedia.org
Have you no brains? wikipedia isnt a source, wow. Take grade 9 English and you might figure it out.
Have you no brains? try reading the References and External Links next time. Take grade 5 English and you might figure it out.

I find it funny for people to trash Wikipedia. It is by far the most democratic encyclopedia on the web with over a million articles. If anyone else knows a better source for relative information to display on the net please do share.

Xbone Stormsurgezz

2007-01-30 06:41:53

#48

Vilham: Say wat!?; +580|6775|UK

usmarine2007 wrote:
Vilham wrote:
Good idea, we arent in Economic problems, so you wont need to eat shit.

PS GG on not thinking that insult through.
Not an insult...it is a saying you tool.

then I will come live with you in England.

is not a saying. You tool.

2007-01-30 20:47:38

#49

JimmyBotswana: Member; +82|6595|Montreal

plus the specific wikipedia article i cite has numerous references listed you can check them out if you dont believe the statistics.

2007-01-30 20:54:09

#50

Turquoise: O Canada; +1,596|6414|North Carolina

Kmarion wrote:
JimmyBotswana wrote:
Could we possibly get this conversation back on track? What does this say about American society and should anything be done about it?
Given America's current position what does it say about the rest of the world? After all a nation is built on the success of it's society.

I see it more in terms of America heading towards a fall in an Ancient Roman kind of way.

Instead of a huge slave population, we have millions of illegal immigrants and a huge prison population.

Instead of an official empire, we have a corporate empire built on the military that has encouraged us to spread our troops thin in the Middle East.

Instead of Germanic and Slavic enemies waiting to strike, we have Islamic fanatics slowly trying to mobilize the Islamic World against us because our aggression has made more enemies than friends.

There are several other parallels, but how this relates to our prison policies is that we have shifted the justice system more towards punishment than rehabilitation. If we spent more money and time on rehabilitation than punishment, then we'd have a more functional society with fewer prisoners.

BF2S Forums America's Got a Huge P.P. (Prison Population)

Vilham wrote:

Kmarion wrote:

JimmyBotswana wrote:

Turquoise wrote:

usmarine2007 wrote:

Turquoise wrote:

Turquoise wrote:

usmarine2007 wrote:

Turquoise wrote:

JimmyBotswana wrote:

Vilham wrote:

Vilham wrote:

Vilham wrote:

d4rkst4r wrote:

JimmyBotswana wrote:

Vilham wrote:

chinesemaster006 wrote:

d4rkst4r wrote:

JimmyBotswana wrote:

usmarine2007 wrote:

Vilham wrote:

Kmarion wrote:

JimmyBotswana wrote:

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